Notebook: Receiver, corners still in flux

The Vikings know that Percy Hardin’s availability is always day to day, so two days after he missed another practice, head coach Brad Childress said the team now has a “migraine personnel package.”
The Vikings have been forced to make several adjustments to their football jerseys
receiving corps since the start of the preseason because of injuries. When Hardin was out for an extended period due to the death of his grandmother and dealing with a more extensive migraine, the Vikings signed Greg Camarillo. When they lost Sidney Rice for at least the first six weeks of the season because of hip surgery, the team signed Jason Walker but ended up parting ways with him before the season began.
Just this week, the Vikings signed Hank Basket after he was released by the Philadelphia Eagles.
“He came in knowing multiple spots,” Childress said of Basket, who played in a similar offense in Philadelphia. “We talk about some of the verbiage that’s changed – like migraine personnel – they don’t need to know what that is in Philadelphia right now. He’s been here for the whole game plan. He didn’t get here for the whole base installation Wednesday morning (when he was signing), but he’s up to speed on most of it.”
Basket said he was encouraged by the amount of plays the coaches placed on his plate since he started practicing on Wednesday. He said he was thrown into the fire immediately.
“The only way you get the quarterback’s confidence is to get out there with the quarterback,” he said. “You can sit there and recite everything in the book and know everything, read it in the book, but until you go out on the field and perform, then you’re never going to get his confidence.”
CORNERS GETTING CLOSE?
The Vikings listed two cornerbacks with knee injuries – Cedric Griffin and rookie Chris Cook – as questionable, but they seem to be making progress. Griffin even lined up with the first-team defense for a portion of Friday’s practice and Cook has made it through a full practice routine this week.
“They are getting closer. They’ve had good weeks of Colts jersey
practice here,” Childress said.
With Cook measuring 6-foot-2 and Griffin 6 feet tall, they are the two tallest cornerbacks on the roster and could be helpful defending Detroit’s 6-foot-5 receiver, Calvin Johnson, on Sunday.
Can play corner as a 6-foot corner that can play big, that never hurts you to have guys of that size,” Childress said.
Defensive tackle Jimmy Kennedy is also questionable with a knee injury. None of those three defenders has been active yet this season.
Several other Vikings working through injuries this week were listed as probable, meaning there is a “virtual certainty” they will play. They are: WR Bernard Berrien (knee), QB Brett Fare (ankle/right elbow), WR Percy Hardin (hip), LB Ben Leer (back), T Bryant McKinney (finger) and C John Sullivan (calf).
Fare, Hardin, Berrien and Griffin were all limited in practice Friday.
Detroit has already declared WR Ante Burleson (ankle), LB Zack Follett (concussion) and QB Matthew Stafford (shoulder) as out.
DE Cliff Aril (knee/finger), LB Landon Johnson (neck), LB Demander Levy (groin) and G Stephen Peterman (foot) are questionable. Safeties C.C. Brown (forearm) and Louis Demas (groin/biceps/calf) and LB Ashley Palmer (ankle) are all probable.
NOTES
# McKinney played last week with a cast on his index finger. “I did Cowboys jersey
OK with it. Just get through this game and then give it a rest and I should be ready to come back,” he said. With a bye week following the Detroit game, the cast could come off before the team’s Oct. 11 game at the New York Jets.
# The Vikings’ music at the start of practice on Friday? “Starting’ something” by Michael Jackson, likely a reference to starting a winning streak.